The Heartbreaking Theory About Max in ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’

Dr. Seuss was a master of subtle details that spoke for themselves, and fans have noticed that the Grinch’s dog is one of them. Max the puppy is the only other living creature that accompanies the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but there’s probably a reason why. As Imgur user Baloo78 pointed out in a viral post, Max was probably discarded by someone else before he ended up with the Grinch.

The post quotes the 2000 live-action adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carey. It references a monologue where the Grinch explains how he obtained all of his belongings, saying: “That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? That’s what it’s always been about. Gifts, gifts… gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts. You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I’m saying? In your garbage.”

As Baloo78 pointed out, this implies that everything the Grinch has was found in the trash — “Which could explain how he got Max… He was a Christmas gift that someone got sick of / bored with and threw him in the trash. This also explains why Max is so loyal to Grinch despite him being an awful person.”

The post has racked up over 127,000 views and over 4,300 points on Imgur. Among its nearly 200 comments are many, many GIFs of crying people. Commenters praised the logic, feeling that it added depth to the story and further characterized the Grinch.

“Teenaged Grinch finds Max in the garbage, sighs, and gets him a bone,” one person speculated. “‘Don’t feel too bad, little guy- they didn’t want me either.’” Another added: “Even if he was a bad person he cared for the dog even when he had nothing.”

The post has also spread to other social media outlets. On Twitter, many users were ready to take up arms against Whoville right alongside The Grinch. One person wrote: “They deserved their Christmas getting jacked.”

Of course, there were those who felt that the theory did not fit into the original canon. Some felt that the original poster was overlooking the scenes where Max seemed to mock the Grinch, while others thought they were missing the point of dogs altogether.

“The book says it’s been 53 years, and I think the movie bore that out. Dogs don’t live that long,” one person pointed out. Another added: “Fanfic can be fun. But dogs are just loyal because they’re awesome, and max gives him sass so he’s not afraid of losing the Grinch.”

Whatever the case, the idea captured the imaginations of many as The Grinch resurfaced for the holiday season. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) is currently available to stream on FuboTV.